91st Hunger Games
by 100gamesvictor
Summary: Atticus Avalor is forced to compete in the 91st Hunger Games with an even bigger disadvantage than usual
1. Chapter 1

The 91st Hunger Games

**Note: Catching Fire and Mockingjay never happened.**

**I do not own the **_**Hunger Games**_

I wake up. The nightmares of being reaped still fresh in my head. The thought of going back to sleep terrifies me. It is so scary that I get up, change and walk from my house to the Meadow for some air.

The reaping is today. I sit on the grass in the Meadow. The chances of me being reaped are slim, but possible. After all, my brother was reaped when he was my age. The reaping always brings back images of his death. I still have a few more hours of freedom before I must go to the Square and face the reaping.

I decide to sneak out of the fence and pick some berries. When I get to the fence, I stop and listen to see if there is the humming that means that the fence is on. There is no sound, but there usually never is. I slide under the fence and start hunting for berries. Immediately, I find some blackberries in my secret spot. I pick them before heading to the lake. When I get there, I find some Katniss flowers and pull them up so I can get the roots for soup. Finally, before heading back, I find some apples that have grown early. With my collection, I head back to District 12.

When I get home, my mother and sister are already up.

"Atticus, where were you?" my mother scolds.

That's a stupid. She already knew where I went. Everyone in my family does. It's obvious that I went plant picking, especially since I have a bunch of plants in my hand.

"What's the big deal?" I ask, honestly curious.

"The big deal is that the reaping is in an hour and you aren't ready!"

I see Lyra and ruffle her hair. She looks up and says "You better get ready."

I go into my room and change into my clean white shirt. I keep my jeans on because they aren't dirty and they are the nicest pair of pants that I have.

I walk out of my room as my mother is ushering Lyra out of the door. We walk through the Seam in silence. None of us feels like talking about the reaping when it is so close. We walk over to the sign-up desk and sign in. We then walk over to the sections for the twelve (Lyra) and fifteen (me) year olds.

I wait with the other fifteen-year-olds as Mayor Undersee steps up to the podium and begin his speech. He lists all of the disasters that led to Panem. He then lists all of the past victors from District Twelve. "The victor of the 25th Hunger games was the deceased Vera Simon. The victor of the 50th Hunger Games is Haymich Abernathy. The victors of the 74th Hunger Games are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The victor of the 80th Hunger Games is Laurent LeBeau. The victors of the 84th Hunger Games are Victoria Monroe and Titus Blacklight."

At this point, our escort, Effie Trinket steps up onto the stage and say "Happy Hunger Games District 12, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Ugh! Those Capitol accents are so annoying.

"Ladies first," Effie says as she wobbles over to the reaping ball with the girls' names in them. She reaches inside and pulls out a slip of paper. She then walks back over to the podium and reads "Chelsea Mellark!" After she says it, shock crosses her face. The same face crosses over all of the victors and the Mayor.

I don't understand it until I see the fifteen-year-old girl. That's when it hits me, she is the daughter of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. All of the victors watched her grow up. Seeing her be chosen must be torcher for them.

Effie asks for any volunteers, but of course no one comes forward.

"Aright then. Let's choose our boy tribute!" she said trying to regain her usual verve. She walks over to the reaping ball holding all of the boys' names. She reaches in and pulls out a slip. She walks back to the podium.

"Atticus Avilor."


	2. Chapter 2

_Did she just say my name?_

I am shocked. How could this happen? I thought that there was no chance. I snap from back into realty when I see that the people have just made a pathway from me to the stage. I try to make my features look determined, though I'm not sure how I am doing. I walk up to the stage. Effie asks if there are any volunteers but there is no way that anyone would come forward. Even though I knew this, I feel that I was holding on to a shred of hope until Effie told us to shake hands.

Immediately after, we are taken to the Justice Building, for the chance to say goodbye to our friends and family. I've never been the most popular person so I know that I will only be visited by my family.

When they bring my family in, Lyra immediately walks into my open arms. I can see tears in her eyes. She doesn't want to see me go into the arena. The only thing is, that no one wants to see their child go into the arenas.

"You've got to be strong," I say fiercely. This shocks my mother. She quickly recovers and says "I know. I will it's just that it will be difficult to take care of the two of us without tesserae."

As soon as she said it, shock crossed my face, followed by anger. Realization crosses her face when Lyra says "I can take tesserae. I'm old enough."

"No," I say firmly. I tell them that she doesn't need to take tesserae if they are careful. Lyra knows almost as much as I do about plants. If she is willing to go into the forest, she can collect the berries that I would have collected.

"Maybe you can win, Atti. You're so tough. You could survive." Lyra says.

"I guess." I say though I'm just humoring her. I'm at a greater disadvantage than in usual years because all of the mentors will try to keep Chelsea alive. Also, her parents probably trained her in case she went into the Games.

At that moment the peacekeepers come in to tell my family that they must go. I hug my family goodbye and say "I love you," to them as they walk out. Then, the peacekeepers take me out the back to a car that will take me to the train. Let the Games begin.


	3. Chapter 3

As the car races toward the train station, I am shocked at the speed. The people of the Seam walk everywhere. The car isn't the only thing racing though, my mind is also. Everything from my goodbyes to my family and my thoughts about the Games are spinning around in my head.

When the car pulls to a stop, I realize that we must be at the train station. I try to put on a determined expression. I won't let the Capitol or the other tributes think that I'm an easy target, especially not Chelsea, who must already know that she has an advantage over me.

As I step onto the platform, I realize that everything pertaining to the Games is televised. Strange, I thought that I would have remembered that they film the tributes getting to the platform.

Everyone is in the dining compartment of the train. Effie is trying to make small talk. However, Chelsea and I are silent. It's strange that she wouldn't be talking to her parents or the other victors. She just sits there staring at her food.

"Enough small talk, alright? Let's get down to business," Haymich begins but I cut him off.

"Why?" I exclaim "I already know that you're all going to try to keep Chelsea alive. I get it! You can all help her all that you like. All I ask is that you stay out of my way!"

With that I storm out. I walk halfway to my compartment before I realize that yelling at them won't do me any good. I turn around and walk back.

I am just outside the door when I hear them talking.

"Are you all going to try to save me?" Chelsea asks.

"Yes, we have too," Katniss says.

"Well don't bother! I want Atticus to have as much of a chance as I do! It isn't fair that I get special treatment because of who I'm related to!" Chelsea exclaims. I never knew she thought that. I have a new respect for Chelsea. After a moment, Peeta says "You want us to just let you die? We can't do that."

You don't have to let me die. Just give Atticus the same amount of help as you would me."

So pretty much you want us to let you die," Titus says.

"Titus!" Victoria exclaims.

"What? It's true. If you get equal treatment, that boy will come out of there alive without you," Titus tells her.

"They can still team up. They can both win if they're together." Laurent says in his quiet voice.

"If they team up, they both die. He'll get himself killed trying to help her." Titus replies angrily.

I can picture their faces. Chelsea isn't stupid. She is probably thinking that he's right. I would be thinking that to. If we're treated equally, then I stand a decent chance at coming home. Not if I must help her though.

"Listen," Chelsea says "Victoria, can you please mentor Atticus, and do your best."

"Of course," Victoria says. I hear her chair slide out. Then, I run back to my room as quietly as I can.

When I get there, I get under the blankets to make it look as if I was resting. While doing so, I try to sort through everything that I overheard. Why would Chelsea (or anyone, for that matter) give up the edge that she had? Why would the victors listen to her? Finally, why does Chelsea care?

That's all that I have time to think about because at that moment Victoria walks in. I never really paid attention to Victoria before. Now that I get a good look at her, I realize that she's very pretty. She has long golden blonde hair that is down to her waist. Eyes that are the color of cobalt. Beautiful olive skin. And angular features. She is medium build with no apparent laws in her skin. No pimples, no scars, no birthmarks, nothing.

When she sits down on the bed she says "You deserve a chance. No one deserves to be condemned to death with no hope. I'll mentor you." Her voice is calm, yet I can tell that she truly does care about what happens to the tributes she must mentor.

"What are your talents? Can you throw a knife? Can you hunt? What are your skills?"

"The only thing that I do that's worth anything to anyone is" I begin but she cuts me off. "Everyone is worth something. There is someone out there that cares about you. To win the games, all you must do is discover who that person is and fight to get back to them. Alright?"

I suddenly realize that I couldn't have had a better mentor. I have a feeling that the other victors try not to get attached to the tributes because it hurts more when they die, but Victoria will try and comfort a nervous tribute and make them realize that they have a chance to win. Just like she did to me.

"As I was saying," I began "I gather edible plants in the forest around District Twelve. I go really far in so that I can find the herbs. I also know some of their medicinal purposes."

"I have a feeling that you're a survivor. I always tell people 'stay away from the survivors. They live the longest.' It's true, too. No matter what happens to you-and trust me, I can tell- you'll be able to live through it. Now get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow." She smiles warmly, gets up and walks out of the room, shutting off the light on her way out.

I lay down and immediately, the tendrils of sleep engulf me.


	4. Chapter 4

_The nightmares of past Hunger Games keep me trembling all night. I see a younger Victoria plunging a dagger into another child's heart. The look on her face terrifies me. There is no remorse, just determination. Suddenly, the image changed to a younger Laurent swinging a mace into someone's head. The look on his face is makes him look like a killer, not the way that the victors are described by the Capitol._

I wake up with my eyes wide with terror. I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. I realize that I am drenched in sweat. I take off my pajamas and take a shower. When I get out, I put on a blue t-shirt and jeans. I brush my hair before I walk down to the dining compartment.

Only Katniss and Peeta are in there. I try to leave to avoid an uncomfortable situation, but they notice me and motion me toward them. I sit in the chair opposite of Katniss. She glares at me. Those seam grey eyes are bright and I can tell that she could kill me I a second if she tried.

"You understand that we need to save our daughter at any cost." Katniss said. I nod and she continues "We propose that the two of you form an alliance. We know from experience that having an ally allows you to get more sleep, collect more food, and feel safer. What do you say?"

"I guess, but I think that I should talk to Victoria before I" Peeta interrupts and says "We already spoke to Victoria. She agrees with us. She knows that District Twelve victors always do better with partners."

"I'd like to hear that from Victoria."

"You idiotic little boy! Victoria doesn't care if you survive! She's only helping you because Chelsea asked her to." Katniss hissed.

"I know. I'm not deaf. I heard all of you talking last night and I know that Chelsea asked Victoria to help me. I don't mind an alliance with Chelsea; it's her mentors that I don't trust."

"Now hold on," Peeta began. However, at that moment, Victoria, Chelsea, and Titus all walked in.

"You know, you shouldn't talk to a tribute without their mentor present." Titus said.

"Yeah, why were you talking to Atticus," Victoria asked.

"No reason," Peeta lies smoothly.

"So you didn't talk with Victoria about an alliance. I knew it." I say.

"Atticus, what do you mean," Chelsea asks.

"You're mentors here were trying to trick me into an alliance. By the way, you have terrible mentors. They only told me what I already knew." I say harshly

"And what would that be," questions Titus.

"For one, Chelsea would be an excellent ally." At this Chelsea beams as if I said she just became a god. I wonder what that's about. "Second, she asked Victoria to be my mentor." Victoria's face falls at this. "And third, I can't become Chelsea's ally because I don't trust her parents." I see that Chelsea is crushed to hear this. "I'm sorry. It's just too risky."

Suddenly, I have a truly devious idea. "I would have worked with you, but your parents convinced me not to. I mean, she tried to turn me against Victoria. Your dad also made it out that you're helpless and that you'll die without my help."

Shock crosses her face. It is quickly replaced with anger. Wow, I never thought that it would be so easy to turn her against her parents.

"Why would you say that," she asks her parents fiercely.

"Sweetie I didn't-"her mother began, but Chelsea cut her off.

"Save it. I know that's what you think. You could at least be honest about it," Chelsea says before storming off.


	5. Chapter 5

I feel sort of bad about lying to Chelsea. I didn't want to make a rift in her family. I just wanted to see how easily her trust in them could be broken. Apparently, they aren't very close. It's time to apologize.

I walk down the corridor to Chelsea's room. Before knocking, I take a deep breath to prepare myself for what is in store for me. I knock and I hear her say "Go away!"

"Chels, it's me Atticus. I need to talk to you."

"Fine, come in." Chelsea replied. I open the door and find her on her bed with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. At this moment, I realize that I can't tell her that I outright lied. Firs, she probably wouldn't believe me, and think that her parents made me say it. Second, she'll refuse me as an ally if she somehow does believe me. I think back to all that I know about lies. I know that the best lie is wrapped around the truth. So, I should say what I was thinking at the time that I talked to her parents- which is exactly what I told her- without saying that I was trying to sabotage her. That'll work.

"Listen, I need to tell you something. Your parents didn't actually say that you don't stand a chance. That's just what I thought they were implying. I'm sorry." She looks up with a confused expression. When she is done processing what I have said, she replies "Why are you telling me this. It would have taken away my advantage and we would have been on even ground."

"I didn't want to see your family fall apart because of me." I say honestly.

She says "Thanks." I get up and head for the door. Chelsea also gets up. She meets me at the door and does something I never expected. She gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I can feel myself blush.

When I get back to my room, my hand touches the place where she kissed me and I smile. This isn't my usual devious grin; this is a shocked, yet happy smile.

Five minutes later, Effie comes to tell me that we will be in the Capitol in fifteen minutes. She also, says to meet Victoria in the Media Compartment. When I walk into the room, I see Victoria there. She says "Atticus, good. Come and sit down, we must have a little chat before we arrive." I sit down in the chair opposite her and wait for her to tell me what she wants.

"I think you know that we will be arriving at the Capitol in a few minutes. When we get there, you will be put in the hands of Cinna and Portia, your stylists. Your prep team will get you ready for the opening ceremony. You won't like what they do to you but you must not resist. They will help me get you sponsors."

I don't have time to reply because at that moment, we pull out of the tunnel and enter the Capitol.


	6. Chapter 6

Despite my feelings toward the Capitol, I rush toward the window to get a look at the city. No one could deny that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. All of the lights, colors, and people make me wish that I lived here (except for the terrible fashion.)

When Chelsea and I step off the train, we are immediately motioned to a black car. We drive through the streets of the Capitol faster than the car in 12 went. It takes us fifteen minutes to reach the Remake Center. We get out of the car and walk in. I am ushered to one elevator, Chelsea to another. I know that I won't see a familiar face until the actual chariot ride.

My prep team is complete idiots. Dala, a chubby woman with tiger patterns all over her body, does my hair while Quartensia, a tall woman with lavender skin and gold hair, puts make up on, nothing noticeable, to cover up my pimples. The final member of my prep team is Viranda, a medium sized woman that has pale white skin with ink black tattoos, waxes my body of all unwanted hair.

They babble away about their eccentric lives. I don't have to say anything. When they are done getting me ready, they say that they are going to call Portia in their strange Capitol accents.

I put on a robe that I find and sit down. Of course I know who Portia is, she is one half of the famous pair of stylists. I'm just nervous that she lost her touch and will make me wear a coal mining outfit.

When Portia comes in, I realize that it is amazing that anyone who dresses like she does, cold come up with such amazing ideas. Her skin is pale pink, with red tattoos around her eyes and purple hair.

"Hello Atticus, I'm Portia your stylist. This year, we're going to put you and Chelsea in complementary costumes. I can't say what it is yet, but you're going to love it!"

I walk out of the elevator in the Remake Center and see Chelsea in a similar costume as mine. I walk over to her and say "Hey." She looks up and nods.

District 1 gets ready as the anthem booms. They ride out and I can hear the crowd erupt into applause. They are always favorites. Districts 2 gets ready. Suddenly, District 11 is up. A man who must be Cinna comes up to us and tells us to hold hands. I don't get this until I remember that that provides the slightest touch of rebellion. I grab Chelsea's hand as if it were a lifeline. Our chariot rolls out and I hear Claudius Templesmith booming "Ladies and gentlemen, the tributes of District Twelve!" I wait. Portia told us that our costumes will activate in a moment. When they do, the crowd bursts into applause. Our costumes burst into columns of smoke. This gives off the effect of burning without them reusing old ideas. The chariot ride goes by in a blur. I only realize what is happening when I am on the elevator in the Training Center and I realize that I am still holding Chelsea's hand. I let go but she turns me around and fives me a kiss full on the lips. Just before we exit the elevator she said "That was for telling me the truth," and walks away. I go to my room fall on the bed and think, _tomorrow I start training._


	7. Chapter 7

I'm in my room staring into space. I don't understand what just happened.

_Did Chelsea just kiss me?_

I know the answer is yes, but I don't know why I'm acting like this. So what Chelsea kissed me, why would she though? We're going into the Hunger Games, there's no time for romance!

Then again, her parents won by playing up the romance. But we aren't her parents! There must be another reason. I'm going to find out.

Effie, Victoria, Katniss, Peeta, Titus, Laurent, and Haymich get off the elevator. Victoria walks over to my room and knocks on the door. I don't reply so she comes in. She sees me sitting on my bed and asks "What happened? Why are you just standing there?"

I shake my head. I say "Nothing happened. I was just thinking about the Games."

She shakes her head. "Sorry, but I don't buy it. I've known you for all of one day, but I know you well enough to know when something's up."

"Chelsea kissed me and I don't know why."

"Maybe it's for the same reason that she asked me to mentor you. Maybe she likes you," she says.

"She chose a really bad time to tell me don't you think."

"Maybe she's thinking that if she dies, at least you knew. I think you should talk to her."

I sigh, "All right," I say "I'll talk to her, but if I don't come back alive, avenge my murder."

She laughs and agrees. I walk out of the room and go down the hall to Chelsea's room. I knock and say "Chels, it's Atticus."

Three seconds later, the door flies open and I see her excited face. "Hey, Atticus."

I don't even say hello, I just kiss her. I can tell that she's shocked at first, but after a minute, she kisses me back. Somehow, when we come apart, we're sitting on her bed.

"She says "I know why I kissed you, but why'd you kiss me?"

The question makes me blush. I thought it was obvious. "I like you a lot ."


	8. Chapter 8

She stares at me blankly. I don't think that she understands what I'm saying. I don't get it. Why is it so hard to believe that I like her? She's smart, funny, and clever. Anyone that knows her likes her. I remember her mother's Games. She had no idea that Peeta was in love with her until he said it during the interviews. Huh, she's more like her mother than I thought. She then says "Why are you telling me now?"

"Why did you kiss me in the elevator?"

"Do you always answer a question with another question?"

"Have you ever heard of Socrates Method?"

"Give me an answer, and no, I haven't."

"Socrates was a philosopher thousands and thousands of years ago. He always had a question to ask. Every answer he was given sparked another question. Do you get it now?"

She nods. Then, she leans in and kisses me. It only lasts a second because at that moment, her mother walks into the room and sees us kissing. Her mother screams "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

I get up and walk out the door. I never take my eyes off of Katniss. I know from experience that you never turn your back to the killer.

As soon as I'm out of the room, Katniss starts yelling "How dare you kiss that _boy!"_

"That boy has a name! It's Atticus and he's someone that I really like!"

"You chose a bad time to fall for someone! In the Training Center before the Games? What were you thinking?"

"Oh, and that's not hypocritical coming from one of the star-crossed lovers of District Twelve!"

Ouch, that's harsh. I'm glad to see that she's standing up to her mom. If she didn't, I don't know what I'd do. "Atticus lied to you about what your father and I said! So, as a reward, you kiss him!"

"I know that he lied! He told me that he was only telling me what he thought you were implying! Which, by the way, I think you were!"

"He is not trustworthy! You will not have him as an ally!"

"Good luck trying to stop me!"

"If you team up with Atticus, I will not help you at all in the arena!"

"I'll take my chances!"

I hear her get up to storm out of the room. As she's leaving, she runs right into me.

"You were listening," she said quietly. She knows it's true.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Atticus, please tell me you'll be my ally. If you won't, then I just gave up my mentor for nothing."

"I would have asked you to be my ally even if you hadn't kissed me."

"I think that you mean that you kissed me." She said as we entered the Dining Room.

"No, I meant what I said."

"When did I kiss you?"

"Elevator." I say simply.

"Rats, I guess that I forgot about that one."

We take our seats and wait for everyone else. In a matter of moments, Effie comes in. Followed by Laurent and Titus. Bringing up the rear is Victoria and Haymich. They sit down and Haymich says "Let's get right down to business." Laurent however says "Shouldn't we wait for Katniss and Peeta?"

"They said that they can't bear to mentor Chelsea after what happened this afternoon and asked me to instead. What did happen?"

"She walked in on me kissing Atticus. She got all angry and threw a tantrum. I'm surprised that you, Victoria aren't shocked that I was kissing Atticus, are you?"

"I kinda told her that you kissed me in the elevator and she's the one that convinced me to go talk to you. That's probably why."

She gave me a look that said _why her_. "She's my mentor and I was wondering why you kissed me. Was it because you liked me? Was it for the Games? Those kinds of questions." That seemed to help her relax.

At this point Titus interrupts and says "So let's talk about training. First of all, are you two going to play the 'we're in love' angle? Because, if you are, we'll need to coach you as a team."

We look at each other and I see her nod. "We'll try the love angle." I say.

"Then, you two must be at each other's side every minute of the day. Also, act in love. Kiss each other, flirt with each other, and joke around. Things like that. You want the other tributes to think that you'll be too busy staring at each other to pay attention. Got it?"

Chelsea nods, but I hesitate. "Wouldn't it be better if we act as if we like each other, but not as a couple? Like doing different stations. We can stare at each other from across the room so it looks as if we like each other but aren't in an alliance. I could go to the survival station while she learns weapons. That way, we don't have to alternate between survival and fighting. And, we'll both contribute something to the alliance that the other needs."

They think it over for a minute. Then, Haymich says "That'll work too. But if you do that, you should get to know the other tributes so you ban know how they might fight. Also, when you're talking to the other tributes, turn to look at the other and act as if your mind is elsewhere. When you see the other looking, turn your head and act embarrassed. Finally, don't sit together at lunch. Sit at different tables and stare at each other from across the room. Now go get some sleep."

That night, every dream I have is about Chelsea. I see her laughing. I see her looking at me. I see every memory that I have of her flash before my eyes.

The next morning, I find that I'm the last one to breakfast. Everyone is there, including Katniss and Peeta. I sit down silently next to Chelsea and Titus. The servers are what Laurent described as avoxes. Hey are traitors to the Capitol that have their tongues cut out so that they can never speak. I see Katniss eying a redheaded avox. I can tell that she knows her somehow. It isn't just a master servant relationship. There's a connection there.

I am served eggs over easy, bacon, a plate of pancakes, and a drink that Chelsea tells me is called hot chocolate. At a quarter to ten, I go to my room to change. I see a green shirt and a pair of jeans. I leave my room, and head to the elevator. I meet Effie and Chelsea there at exactly ten-o-clock. When we get down to training, I realize that we are the last ones to arrive.

The head instructor, Atala, tells us that there will be stations that help our survival, weapons, and other skills that we'll need to survive. She says that there will be a master of each station that will assist us. There are assistants on hand if we want to practice with a partner. Under no circumstances, are we allowed to engage another tribute. She releases us for training. The career tributes from one, two, and four immediately go to the deadliest looking weapons and handle them with ease. I see Chelsea head over to the archery station. I decide to head over to the edible plants station. I figure that this will give me an idea of the area that we'll be in.

I'm still watching Chelsea as she gets ready to shoot. She has perfect aim! The nonmoving targets aren't good enough for her, so the trainer starts throwing up plastic birds for her to shoot. She hits every one. Realizing that this isn't a challenge, he sends up multiple birds. First two at a time. Then, three at a time, after that, four at a time, five at a time, six at a time. She never misses. She manages to shoot twelve at a time five different times before she decides to stop.

Then, she goes to the knife throwing station. She is just as good here as she is with the archery station. Every time, she gets a bull's eye. Then, this trainer has her take down targets all over the gym. She can get a perfect hit from across the room! Taking her on as an ally is becoming better and better.

I realize that I need to get back to training. So, I turn back to the edible plants station. I realize that I have no idea what any of these plants are. So, I guess. I know that plants that are bright pinks, blues, and other bright colors tend to be poisonous. So, I try the darker color berries. I do pretty well. I ask where these plants are found. She tells me that they are tropical plants. After that, I head to the edible insects station. I don't do well here either. I learn quite a bit from these two stations. After that, I go to the fire building station. I do very well here. I only stay here for about ten minutes because I know that I should go somewhere else that will be more productive. Next, I go to the edible sea life station. I learn a lot about what I can and cannot eat from water. I also do to the making fishhooks station. Here, I learn that I have a knack for fishhooks. Throughout the time, I always have one eye on Chelsea. She only goes to the weapons stations and is excellent at everything that she tries.

When they call us for lunch, I sit by myself. I decide, since I might never get another chance, to have the bread from every district to see how they taste. My favorites are the fish-shaped ones from District 4 and the crescent moon-shaped ones dotted with seeds from District 11. All of lunch, I stare at Chelsea. I know that I shouldn't but when she sees me, I wave and smile before she turns away. I'm surprised that she's sitting by herself. I would have thought that she would be sitting with the careers or somebody that wants her as an ally.

After lunch, I spend the entire day at the canopy-building station. I learn how to make a watertight canopy that is like a house. It has a door, a window on the ceiling to let the smoke from a fire out, and a basic lock for the door- to stop it from opening in a storm.

Now, I see Chelsea using a whip. She's amazing at that too.

After that, training is over and we head back to our floors. When, we step off the elevator, we head straight into the dining room. Everyone else is already there. When we walk in, Haymich turns around and says "Chelsea, every other tribute has instructed there mentors to request you as an ally. Why?"

"She was shooting, throwing knives, using a whip, sword fighting, swinging a mace, throwing a spear, using a trident, and was fantastic at hand-to-hand combat. I'm surprised that the careers didn't ask you to sit with them. I think that everyone was wrong. I'm going to lose without you, not the other way around." She shrugs. Then she says to me "I saw you today at the survival stations. How were they?"

"Good. I found out what the arena's going to be." This grabs there attention. Haymich says "How did you figure this out and what will it be?"

"I was at the edible plants station. I've never seen any of the plants there, so I asked where they were found. The idiotic instructor told me that those plants were exclusively found in tropical rainforests. The edible insects' instructor said the same thing. As did the edible sea life instructor. Also, I've figured out how to make a watertight canopy that looks like a house."

"I saw that. It looks great. We're going to be the best team ever!"

I smile and walk after her to dinner.


	9. Chapter 9

"So where exactly did you learn to use all of those weapons?" I ask. She hesitates for a second before saying "My parents and the victors throughout the districts taught me. They thought that I might go into the Games. So, they prepared me and the other children of victors for the Games. Strangely, I never learned any survival skills."

I wish that I were that lucky. I have no chance in the arena. As if reading my mind Chelsea suddenly says "Atticus, I would need to join the career pack if I wanted to win. That would mean killing you. I couldn't do that. Now, thanks to you, I don't have too."

The adults are still talking. We decide to go into the Media Room to have some alone time. We sit there in silence. I like it though because it gives me time to study her face. She has her mother's ink black hair but her father's bright blue eyes. That's all I really notice about her because whenever I try to look away, I'm drawn back to staring at her eyes.

Her beautiful eyes.

Her beautiful eyes are… staring right at me!

"Is there something that I can help you with?" she asks innocently.

"No. Actually, yes, how do you think that you look? I mean do you think your pretty, ugly, in the middle."

She takes time to think it over. I don't know why. She's amazing. I only really asked it to see if she sees herself the way I do.

I lie down on the ottoman. Then, she answers "I think that I'm okay looking, but not pretty." I snap my head up when she says this. She smirks at me and says "Why, do you think differently?"

"I think you're beautiful in every way." I say without thinking. Then, I blush. I don't know why I said that! Sure, it's how I feel, but I shouldn't sound so desperate.

Instead of thinking that I'm desperate-or maybe because she thinks I'm desperate, I don't know- she pulls me in for a kiss. I feel the heat radiating from her body and I know that she really likes me. This isn't a trick, or an angle, or pity. She really likes me! When I realize this, I pull her closer to me. I wrap my arms around her waist and keep kissing her.

We only break apart because we need air. She says "Atticus, we need to get some sleep for tomorrow." I walk her to her bedroom. I say "Good Night." Instead of saying good night, she gives me a kiss, and walks into her room. I walk back to my room happily and fall asleep to find that, once again, my dreams are about Chelsea.

When I wake up, I find that Chelsea is next to me. She's just lying there, eyes open and trained on me. "I didn't know that I was your Chelsea. When did at happen?"

"When did I say that? And when did you come into my room and for what reason?"

She giggles and says "I spent the night in here just staring at you. You were saying it almost all night. I hope you don't mind."

"Not if you let me watch you sleep tonight. This way I get to hear you dream about me."

"I don't talk in my sleep, and I don't dream about you," she says "Every thought in my head has you in it somewhere. You're all that I think about." Then she kisses me. It's just a light kiss, but I know that it will get me from now until after training.

She walks out of the room to let me change into the training clothes that Portia wanted me to wear.

The morning goes by the same way that it did yesterday. However, during lunch, when there is no one supervising us, something new happens.

We head to lunch without any problems. I sit on one side of the cafeteria, Chelsea on the other. The girl from District 4 yells across the cafeteria "Hey! Weapons girl, come sit with us!"

Chelsea just shakes her head.

That apparently set off a bomb. The careers all get up and run over to Chelsea's table. I hear the girl from District 1 say "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to be a career! They're idiots with half their brain wired to kill and the other half on figuring out how to do it! I'm not going to help you kill the other tributes! You can do that on your own."

The boy from District 2 grabs Chelsea by the hair. With that, I get up and walk over to them. I grab the guy who grabbed Chelsea and say "Leave her alone." The boys from 4 and 2 exchange a glance at each other. Then, the boy from 4 suddenly punches me. I fall back. The pain in my gut is excruciating, but I stand up. However, now it isn't just me and Chelsea, the girl from 8 and the boy from 6 have come to help us. The girl asks me "Are you all right?" I nod. She helps me up while the boy from 6 grabs the guy from 2's wrist and twists it. The guy from 2 lets go of Chelsea and she comes running over to me. This isn't training. She has no weapons to fight with, and I don't think that she could hurt someone anyway. Without thinking, she runs into my arms and I kiss her in front of everyone. Then, when I realize what's happening, I pull away and look at everyone else's aces. Some are shocked. Others are indifferent. But the careers' faces say that they are angry. The girl from 2 goes in to punch the girl from 8. I reach my hand out and block her punch. Then, the boy from 4 tries to punch Chelsea. However, the guy from 6 stops him. The girl from 1 then tries to punch the guy from 6 but Chelsea moves around him and punches her in the nose. I can tell from the crack that she might have broken her nose. At that point, the boy from 1 tries to punch me, but the girl from 8 stops him by kicking him in the groin. He cries out in pain and goes down. At that point, I flip the girl from 2 and elbow the guy from 2 that tries to help her. Then, the guy from 6 does something to the guy from 4 that causes him to collapse. The girl from 4 tries to help but he does the same to her.

When they're all on the ground, we all walk over to my table and sit down to eat. We are joined by their district partners. The all introduce themselves. The girl from 8 says "I'm Carmen and this is Wade." She motions to her district partner. He says "Hello." Then, the guy from 6 says "I'm Carter and this is Celine." She says "Hi, nice to meet you!" I say "I'm Atticus and this is Chelsea. Listen, I was thinking, maybe we should form a jumbo alliance. I mean we all know how to fight apparently. It just makes sense for us to stick together." They all nod. Personally, I only really want Carter and Carmen, but maybe the others will be useful as well.

At this point Chelsea interrupts by saying "I have an idea. Why don't all of you go back to your floors, get your mentors and we can all hang out on the District Twelve floor to talk about the Games?"

"Is that allowed?" Celine asks. I hope Chelsea has an answer because I was wondering the same thing.

Carmen speaks up and says "It's never happened before, but I think that it's allowed. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I say why not. It's a great chance to get to know each other and plan strategy. What do you two think?" Carter says while motioning to me and Wade.

Wade says "It's good to get to know each other and it'll be fun."

"Atticus?" Chelsea asks.

"Yes, I'd love to get to know all of you and it'll be fun." The bell rings signifying that lunch is over. All of the careers are up except for the two that Carter took down. It looks like they'll be out for a while. The other careers aren't looking to good either. The one that Carmen kicked is still whimpering and guarding himself from another attack. The girl that I flipped is holding her back while the boy that I flipped is holding his stomach. The one that Chelsea punched is trying to reset her nose before it sets crookedly. For a second, I worry that we'll get in trouble. Then, I remember that they started it and were just trying to help Chelsea.

Chelsea and myself continue with our training plan of her using weapons while I learn survival skills. However, this time I am with Carmen and Celine, and she is with Carter and Wade. We go to the knot-tying station and the camouflage station. We all finish training and go into the same elevator where we are the only people. First, we stop at the sixth floor, where Carter and Celine go to get their mentors. As it turns out, their mentors are two morphling addicts. Then, we atop at the eighth floor. This is where Carmen and Wade go to get their mentors Cecelia and Woof. After that, we finally arrive on the twelfth floor

Me and Chelsea go in first. We walk into the Dining Room and I say in a computerized voice "Warning, we've got allies." Everyone turns to us. Victoria asks "What do you mean?"

"This," Chelsea says simply. She walks out and brings everyone in.

"What's this?" Titus asks.

"Well, we decided to have them as our allies, so what better way to get to know someone than over dinner." Everyone sits down, we have to get another table and a few extra seats brought in to fit everyone. We all have a nice dinner. The victors and Effie talk, we tributes have our own conversations. I discover that my favorite tributes besides Chelsea are Celine and Carmen. We seem a lot alike. I notice that Chelsea is talking to Wade and Carter more than anyone. I realize that making an alliance with them was probably the worst thing we can do. I _like _them. The thought of having to kill them eventually makes me sad.

After dinner, we all head into the Living Room to discuss strategy.

"How did you guys think of this alliance?" Titus asked.

I answer. I tell them all that happened with the careers. I even accidentally tell them that I kissed Chelsea in front of everyone. Haymich is furious about this. He says that all our hard work was wasted. I move on to how I started to think that they would be good allies. Victoria asks "What makes you think that they'll be good allies? You haven't even seen them train." I answer her "The fact that they were willing to stand up to the careers is good enough reason for me." She nods and I finish the story. I also tell the others about what I know the arena will be. Finally, Cecelia says that everyone needs to get to bed. The others leave. The District 12 victors all go to bed except Victoria and Haymich. Now it's time to talk private strategy.

"I'm not stupid Atticus. And neither are you, why did you align yourselves with people that you actually like? It'll be that much harder to break off the alliance if you like the person your with." Victoria says.

"I know. I'm worried about that. But the odds of us all being there until the end are really slim. So why should we end a perfectly good alliance now before we get any use from it," I say sadly.

"Also, if we do try to end the alliance, there's a good chance that we won't survive for long." Chelsea says.

"Get to bed, both of you. I can't stand to look at either of you." Haymich says.

We walk to Chelsea's bedroom. She says goodnight but I hold her arm.

"No, no, no, no, no. We had a deal. I don't get angry at you for watching me sleep if you let me watch you sleep. A deal's a deal." I smirk. She sighs and pulls me into her room for the night.


	10. Chapter 10

Last night was very funny. I watched Chelsea sleep all night. The entire night, she was mumbling something. One time she was mumbling something about how I had to run away from the cornucopia. As if I would stay there. I noticed that all of her mumblings were about me.

When she starts to wake up, I say "I really should get away from the cornucopia," directly in her ear. She sits straight up.

"Atticus. Oh thank god," she says exasperatedly. I see that she's distressed, so I wrap my arms around her and say in a baby voice "Now what's wrong?"

"Nightmare, about losing you. It was horrible. Atticus, what do you dream about?"

"You," I say simply.

"Then why don't you ever have nightmares?"

"Because I only have dreams about being with you. Never about losing you."

"How?"

"I know that if you die in the arena, I'll be right behind you." Shock crosses her face. I don't know why. I'm saying that I can't live without her. That's a good thing.

"Promise me something," she says. I nod and she continues "If I die in the arena, try to win, please." I can't. I know that I can't live without her. I won't. However I nod and say "I will if you will if it's reversed." She nods. I get up and walk out so she can change. I head down to the Dining Room. I see that Katniss and Peeta are in there talking. Once again, I try to walk out, but they catch me. Peeta motions me to sit in the seat opposite him. "Listen, we want to mentor Chelsea again but Haymich says it's a bad idea and won't step down. Chelsea won't listen to us, but she might listen to you Atticus." Peeta says. At this, I laugh. I laugh so hard that I fall out of my seat. When I compose myself, I hear Katniss snap "What's so funny?"

"It's hysterical that you would think that I would want you idiots to mentor Chelsea. You want her forgiveness, ask for it yourself."

Then, Victoria and Chelsea walk in. We eat in silence. Then I notice that it is almost ten-o-clock. We rush out to the elevator. We head down to training. I spent the entire morning at the canopy station. By the end of group training, I make a watertight little fort.

We head to lunch where we will wait until we are called for our private sessions. We will each have a chance to show the gamemakers our skill. After about an hour, Carter is called. Another half hour goes by before Celine can go. About another half hour later, Wade is called. Then, ten minutes after that, Carmen goes. About an hour and a half later, I'm called. When I get in there, I am immediately inspired. I will make a canopy. I ask a Capitol attendant if they can make it rain in here when I ask. They nod so I get to work.

First, I get 9 long sticks, 2 medium sized ones, and 1 short one. I set it up and tie the pieces together. Then, I decide to get 5 more large sticks. I put them in the shape of a house without walls. Then, I get extremely long strands of seaweed. I put them next to each other with no space in-between them. Then, I take more long strands of seaweed, and weave it in and out of the other strands. I keep doing this until it is completely enclosed. By this time I've gotten all of the gamemakers' attention. Then, I feel for where the-would be door is. I cut the seaweed that is there off. I then make a door out of wood and seaweed. I find some hollowed out branches, cut them to make the hinges. I successfully created my large house. Then, I turn to the gamemakers and say "Would you please step inside!" It takes some convincing, but they all eventually get inside the house. I tell the attendant to make it rain for 3 minutes. In those three minutes I start to talk to the gamemakers. I say "I think that I know what kind of arena there will be and I have chosen my materials for this house to match that area." The head gamemaker said "Just what kind of arena do you think you will be in?"

"Somewhere tropical. A rainforest maybe." The effect is instantaneous. Half the gamemakers gasp. I hear one say "How did he know that?"

"How did you figure that out," the head gamemaker asks. So I was right.

"Well, at the edible plants station, all of the plants were from the tropics. The same with the edible insects and sea life station. This made me think that the arena must be tropical because the plants, insects, and sea life, are found exclusively in the tropics. So, I practiced making a fort like this out of things found in the tropics." The rain then stopped without a single drop getting in. "Hold on for a second," I say. I step outside and go over to the fire building station. I get branches of driftwood and bring them over to the fort. "I put the window up there," motioning to the window in the corner of the fort, "So that right after a storm, I'll be able to start a fire while the sky is still dark. That way, no one would see the fire or the smoke." At this point, the fire I was starting comes to life. I leave again to go to the edible plants and sea life stations. I get a lot of edible berries and fish. I bring them back to the fort. I start to cook the fish on the fire that is now burning bright in the fire pit that made. When I finish cooking the fish, I eat on of the fish and then start passing it around to all of the gamemakers. Some refuse to eat it but others decide that if I'm eating it, then it must be safe. I also pass the berries around after eating some myself. The same gamemakers that ate the fish ate the berries.

"I also set some snares outside. Come, I'll show you." I lead the gamemakers out of the fort and over to the snares that I set. I take a rabbit doll that I found and throw it on the snare. Immediately, the trap activates and the rabbit is caught.

"Well that's it. I'm done."

"You may go Mr. Avalor."


	11. Chapter 11

I go to the elevator and press the 12 button. I immediately shoot upwards. I step off the elevator and notice that the time is 5:47. That only leaves Chelsea 13 minutes to show the gamemakers what she can do. When her 13 minutes are up, I see Chelsea come up the elevator with a sad look in her eyes. I run out to greet her. "Hey, how'd you do?"

"I would have done better if_ someone _had given me more time!" she screams at me as our mentors and Effie come in.

"What happened," Effie asks dumbly.

"I got fifteen minutes to show the gamemakers what I could do because Atticus took up all the time. He was in there for three hours!"

"Sorry! I was making a fort, and talking to the gamemakers, and building a fire, and cooking dinner, and setting snares! I had a lot to show them!"

"So did I! I wanted to show them all of my weapons skills! But I didn't get the chance because of _you!_"

I stare at her in disbelief. I just wanted to do my best. I didn't even think about how it would affect her. "I'm so sorry."

Her face softened. "I know that you were trying to do your best. I just didn't think that it would take so long."

Laurent steps in at this point and says "Let's go watch the training scores." I stare at him. We're having an argument about training and he says we should go see the scores. Instead of saying this however, I nod and we go see the scores.

The seal of Panem appears. Then, they show our training scores. As usual, the careers get from 8 to 10. Carter gets a 6. Celine gets a 4. Wade gets a 9. Carmen gets a 7. The rest of the tributes get bad or mediocre scores. Finally, it's time for us, District 12. My face appears on screen. Then, a flashing 12. Chelsea comes up next and she gets a 10.

"How did you do so well?" Katniss asks.

"I made a water tight fort. Then, I brought all of the gamemakers inside of it, and had the attendants make it rain in the gym. While that was going on, I was telling the gamemakers about how I know what the arena will be. When I said it was a tropical rainforest, one of them said 'how did he know'. Then, once the rain stopped. I built a fire. I made dinner and passed it around. They all ate some. Finally, I showed them some snares."

Victoria goes "Congratulations, to both of you."

I walk Chelsea to her bedroom and ask "Are you still mad at me?'

"No."

"Good. Because I want a kiss good night." She kisses me. It isn't like our usual kisses, which I can feel that she really likes me. This feels strained. Almost as if she is still angry.

"Why are you so angry?"

"I'm not."

"You're a terrible liar. Please tell me."

"We had our first fight today. It feels weird." I kiss her this time. I hope that she understands that I'm trying to tell her that nothing has changed. I think she gets the message because she kisses me like she used to.

"Good night."


	12. Chapter 12

All night, I have dreams about Chelsea. They're actually more like nightmares. Every image I have is about Chelsea dying. I wake up several times through the night. When morning finally comes, I get up, change into a t-shirt and jeans, and practically run to Chelsea's room. I catch her coming out of her room and immediately kiss her. When I pull away ha says "Atticus, what was that for?"

"I had a bunch of nightmares about losing you. I just needed a reminder that you're still here." She smiles awkwardly and walk to the Dining Room.

In the Dining Room, Effie, Haymich and Victoria are the only ones there. I can hear Victoria and Haymich arguing with Effie. It has something to do with our preparation. From what I gather, Effie wants to spend time with u on preparation while Victoria and Haymich want to spend the entire time n content.

When they see us, Haymich goes "Why don't we let them decide? Do you two want to spend the entire time with the content of your interviews, or do you want Effie to help you with preparations?" Victoria smiles at this because she must know that we would do anything to avoid dealing with Effie.

I notice that Haymich is getting drunk. I realize that be helping Chelsea. I turn to the Capitol attendants and say "Take Haymich's bottle of alcohol away. Tell everyone else here and at the Command Center that they cannot give him any alcohol. He need to be sober for the Games." The attendant nod and says he'll spread the word. He also take the wine away from Haymich. Haymich gives me a murderous glare.

"We'll just do the content sessions with Victoria and Haymich." Effie pouts and walks out of the room. I kiss Chelsea goodbye and follow Victoria to the Living Room, where we'll be discussing my strategy. "Atticus, what angle are you going to play? Humble, sarcastic, fierce, what?"

"I was thinking that I should go with sarcastic and hostile." Victoria asks me questions that might come up in the interview. He doesn't think that I should go with hostile. I could be a little sarcastic, but I need another angle. I can't do witty. I'm not fierce. I'm not exactly likable. I'm strategic, but that won't work for me. I'm not elusive. Mysterious makes no sense. Eventually, I decide to go with modest, arrogant, and sarcastic.

We decide to go over the interview with those angles. When we're done, she says that I did well and that I should go.

"Wait. I was thinking. Maybe I should tell them about how I figured out about the arena. That way, people will know that I'm smart enough to win the Games." She thinks it over for a second before saying "That will also reveal it to the other tributes. It'll take away your advantage."

"We've finished training. There's no time for them to use this to their advantage. They could prepare mentally, but it's not as if they could learn to fight differently to match the arena. There just isn't enough time." She nods and says "Atticus, if you go with that strategy, it will get you more sponsors. It also might hurt you in the arena because the Capitol won't like that you outsmarted them. You'll make them look stupid. If that's the case, it'll be harder for you to win in the arena. Be careful." I nod. We get up to go to dinner.

Everyone else is already there. When we enter the room, I sit next to Chelsea. We are told that we should go to bed early. We'll need it if we want to get a good night sleep. Chelsea stays behind to talk to her parents. I kiss her good night and head for bed

I wake up and find that Chelsea crawled into bed with me. I smile and get up. I walk over to my dresser. On top of it lies my token. The ring my father proposed to my mother with. I remember when my mom came in to see me during the goodbyes. She gave it to me to remind me that I have a family back home. She also gave it to me to remind me of my father. I see Chelsea stir. I grab the ring and walk back over to the bed. When she gets out of bed, I stand her up and say "Morning, Sleeping Beauty." She smiles and says "I never knew that the Prince in that story was named Atticus. It has a nice ring to it."

I smirk and say "I think that you just said what I was going to say."

"And what was that?" she asks curiously. I have to do this now before I chicken out. I get down on one knee, take her hand and say "Chelsea Mellark, love you more than anything else in the world. Marry me." She's speechless. All she can do is nod. I slip the ring on her finger and she asks "Where did you get that?"

"It was my token, now it's your engagement ring. My father proposed to my mother with it. He spent a decade in the mines saving up for it. And even then he wasn't able to afford much. He died in mining accident two years ago. My mother gave me her engagement ring to remind me of home and him. I don't think that she expected it to be used for another proposal, though." She smiled at me. At that moment, I knew that I did that right thing proposing now.

"Why now, though?"

"Because if I die, I want to know that you were mine. Even if it was only for a day."

"I'll always be yours." Then I kiss her. It's only a short kiss because at that moment, my prep team comes in. they see us kissing and Quartensia bursts into tears of joy while Viranda lets out a squeal of delight. Dala starts to jump up and down in a fit of happiness. When everyone settles down, Dala tells Chelsea that she needs to go into her room for prep.

There isn't much to do because I had a prep 3 days ago. In about 10 minutes, Portia comes in with what I believe is my outfit.

The outfit is pretty much a tuxedo with flame accents on it the cuffs are red and orange to look like fire. I notice that every movement that I make causes the flame accents to look as if I am engulfed in flames. "What do you think?" Portia asks. I smile at her and say "It's amazing. Like everything that you make."

"Enough sucking up. Let's get to the elevator so we aren't late."

When we get to the elevator, I see Chelsea there waving her hand at her parents, Victoria, Titus, Laurent, Haymich, and Effie. "This should be an interesting interview," Titus mumbles.

"I wonder how the crowd will take it," Laurent says to Victoria.

"This is better than any strategy," I hear Katniss ay to Peeta.

We head down to the stage. We get ready to go with the other tributes. I see Chelsea go to tell Carmen, Celine, Carter, and Wade about the engagement. I don't get a chance to talk to them because we have to line up for the entrance. District 1 goes first, then 2 and so on. We all sit down in the seats on the stage. We get ready for the interviews to begin. We each only get 3 minutes. In that time, Caesar Flickerman will ask each of us questions to give the audience a chance to get to know the tributes. This is a major chance for us to get sponsors. If the audience likes us, they'll likely sponsor us. If not, our chances of winning decrease quite a bit.

As the tributes go through their interviews, don't even notice any of them. I only realize what's going on when Chelsea goes up.

"Hello, Chelsea," Caesar says.

"Hi, Caesar," Chelsea replies.

"So Chelsea, what do you think of the Capitol?"

"I'm the luckiest girl in the world because I got to come here."

The crowd cheers while the tributes rom some of the other districts groan.

"What's so great about it?"

"Well, the city itself is amazing, but I love it here because, you know the guy from my district Atticus, he proposed to me here! So I love it here because the Capitol helped me meet someone so amazing!"

"Congratulations!" Caesar exclaims.

"Thank you."

"I hate to change the topic, but you got a ten! What'd you do?"

"I'm a weapons master extraordinaire." The busser goes off that means that her time is up.

I walk up to the stage and say hello to Caesar. "Let's skip the banter and get straight to the point. Atticus, you proposed to Chelsea, why now when there is a good chance that you'll both die?"

"Even if it was only for five minutes, I wanted to know that she was mine. That he wanted to be with me."

"Alright then, how about your score, a twelve. What'd you do?"

"I made a waterproof fort and had all of the gamemakers go into it. Then, while I was in there, I told them that I knew what the arena was. It's a tropical rainforest. Trust me."

"How did you figure this out?"

"I only went to survival stations during training. The edible plants station, the edible insects station, and the edible sea life station were three of my favorites. All of the plants, insects, and sea life that were there, were exclusively found in the tropics. So, I knew that the arena had to be tropical. And, there's almost always trees in the arenas so I guessed that it would be a rainforest." The busser sounds saying that my time was up. I say goodbye to Caesar and go back to my seat.

Chelsea and I take the elevator up to our floor alone. When we get up there we say goodbye to Effie. When she leaves, I ask Victoria "Any advice?"

"Stay away from the bloodbath. If your allies become suspicious, end the alliance. Either kill them, or run away. Stick together." I hug Victoria. She and Haymich then leave to go to the Command Center where they will hopefully signing sponsors. Chelsea and I go into my room. We lay in bed. We don't talk, we just lay there. Eventually, we fall asleep.

I wake up to find that my arms are wrapped around Chelsea's waist. I wake her up because I know that we'll need to leave soon. I change into a t-shirt and jeans. And wait for Portia to come to take me to the hovercraft. From there, we will travel to the arena of death.

I'm surprisingly calm for someone that's facing certain death. I hug Chelsea. She gets up and says "Atticus, I have something for you." She rushes out of my room. A minute later, she comes back with something in her hands. She holds it up and I see that it's a necklace with a raindrop on it. I see that the raindrop has a flower inside it. "My parents gave it to me when I was little. You gave me your token, so I want you to have mine."

I take it and put it on. "Thanks, for everything."

Then, Cinna and Portia come in and tell us that we need to get ready.

I head up to the roof with Portia. The hovercraft drops a ladder down. I grab onto the ladder and I am pulled up. When I'm in the hovercraft. A woman with a needle comes over to me and says "This is just your tracker. The stiller you are, the better I'll be able to place it." _Still? I'm a statue._ However, that doesn't stop me from feeling the sharp jab in my forearm.

They then drop the ladder down to pick up Portia. We ride in the hovercraft. I look out of the window. It's beautiful; I wish I got a chance to enjoy it. When the windows black out, I know that we're almost at the arena. When we land, we go into the Launch Room. I'm the first and Last person to use this room. Portia tries to get me to eat, but I know that I can't.

When the clothes that I will have to where in the arena arrive, I notice that they're the same thing that I'm currently wearing. I change anyway. Then, I hear the voice on the intercom telling me to step onto the metal plate that will take me to the arena. When the Launch Room begins to fall below me, I shoot upward. When I reach the arena I think _I knew it. I'm always right!_


	13. Chapter 13

I survey the arena. I see that the cornucopia is in the center of the arena, I notice that it's on an island in the middle of an ocean. Around the cornucopia, there a several other islands. They all look like rainforests. I can tell that District 4 is going to have a huge advantage here. To compete in the bloodbath the tributes will have to cover at least 30 yards of water. Also, there's no pool in the training center, so there's no way to learn how to swim. When the gong sounds, I dive into the dark ocean.

I taste some of the water on my tongue. It's salt water. I keep on swimming to the cornucopia. I realize that Victoria said not to, but with District 4 as my only real competition, I think that I can get something useful from the cornucopia. When I get to the cornucopia, I immediately grab 2 hunting knives that are as long as my arm. I also grab 1 large backpack. By the time I stand up, Chelsea and Wade have already gotten there. Chelsea runs over to me. However, Wade starts to run but stops abruptly. Then, he collapses. There is a knife sticking out of his back that was thrown by the girl from District 4. Apparently, she reached the cornucopia. That means that her district partner isn't far behind.

Other tributes are getting to the cornucopia now. Carmen and Carter get onto the island together. Celine isn't far behind. We run over to Carmen and Carter. We grab their arms and drag them over to where we see Celine. They each grab a backpack and a weapon. With that we run. We go to the bridge that leads to one of the islands and run across.

When we get to the safety of the trees, we slow down a little, but don't stop. Celine says "How many do you think will die?"

"The usual for the bloodbath is around ten," Chelsea replies. I shrug. As long as no more of us die, I don't care who else is dead.

I see the look on Carmen's face and know that she's thinking about Wade. She looks so upset that I wonder if there was a deeper connection there than I thought.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!_

Each blast represents one dead tribute. Nine blasts mean that 9 tributes are already dead. Wade is one shot. That means that 8 others were killed along with him.

"Let's make camp," Carter says. We gather all of the supplies. I make the fort. In about two hours, we have a nice campsite. We start a fire. Celine as against it but I reminded her that there is no way that the careers are close enough to see the flames. Also, the trees will cover the smoke. This terrain is ideal for a fire. I go into the forest with Celine and Carmen to gather berries. We get a decent supply of plants to eat before we go back.

At the campsite, we cook the meat that Chelsea killed, purify the water that Carter found, and eat the berries that Celine, Carmen, and I collected.

At this time, we decide to see what we got in out packs. There is one full two-gallon water bottle in mine, along with a sleeping bag, a box of crackers, and a fruit cup in mine.

Chelsea got some dried beef strips, a flashlight, a box of matches, and an empty water skin.

Carmen had some wire, a loaf of bread, and a pair of night-vision glasses.

Celine got a sleeping bag, a small bottle of iodine, and a first-aid kit.

Carter was lucky enough to get a sleeping bag, another full two-gallon water bottle, and a blackout cloak.

When we repack everything, the anthem starts to play. When the seal of Panem is gone, the first faces to appear are both from 3; the girl from 5 appears next; followed by both from 7; Wade, of course; the girl from 9; the boy from 10; and the boy from 11. The seal reappears and then everything goes dark.

We sit in silence. 9 people are already dead. Wade is one of them. All of the careers survived. That means that they will be hunting tributes through the night. This is not good. Not good at all. I was hoping that maybe one or two of the careers would have died in the bloodbath. That way we would stand a better chance at beating them if they found us. All of them hunting through the night is pretty much a death sentence for the other tributes.

We decide to take shifts guarding. The first shift is Carmen and I. I let Chelsea use my sleeping bag. When my shift is over, I'll crawl in with her.

"Carmen, I'm sorry about Wade."

"Thanks Atticus. Wade was my best friend. We grew up together. He was my next door neighbor. I'll miss him. But not for long," she sees my confused expression and continues "I want there to be as many victors possible. That means either you and Chelsea, or Celine and Carter. Atticus, I don't plan on making it out alive. Wade was my best friend and I don't know what my life would be like without him."

"That's fine. But if me, Carter, and Celine die, promise me that you'll try to save Chelsea. And if she dies along with us, try to win yourself." She nods. Carter wakes up then and says "One of you can go to sleep. I can't sleep for another second."

"Atticus, you go sleep. I'm not tired." I nod and go over to Chelsea. I slip into her sleeping bag and wrap my arms around her. The last thought I have is that I wish that I could take this moment, freeze it, ad live in it for the rest of my life with Chelsea, alone, and together.


	14. Chapter 14

I wake up to the sound of a cannon firing. Another tribute is dead. I have a feeling that it isn't one of the careers. Since all of us are here, that means that it is probably one of the other tributes. Another cannon fires. Two tributes are dead. A hovercraft appears out of nowhere. A claw drops down and picks up one body. Then, the claw goes down again and picks up another body. My eyes widen. If the tributes were close enough for us to see the hovercraft, then their killers must be in the vicinity.

"Chels, wake up." I shake her. When she wakes up, I wake Carmen up whom, went to sleep after Celine woke up.

"Atticus, what's going on?" Celine asks.

"We need to leave. Another tribute or an animal is nearby."

"How could you tell?" Carter asks.

"The deaths that just happened were close enough for us to see the hovercraft. That means that whoever killed them is close by as well." Carmen's eyes widen. As the other's start to grasp what I'm saying, me and Carmen start to pack up. We're ready to leave in about 5 minutes. We walk a quarter mile before an arrow is shot through Carter's head. His cannon goes off and I immediately know that the careers have found us.

I take a knife and throw it at the girl from 1. She dodges it, but it plunges into the boy from 2's heart. His cannon goes off, signaling his death. Chelsea takes the spear that she got at the cornucopia and chucks it at the girl from 4. It pierces her stomach. Another cannon goes off.

"Retreat!" the boy from 1 calls.

All of the careers run. We don't try to follow them. Even though we could easily defeat them. We're all too upset about Carter's death. We take his pack. We also take the packs of the dead tributes. The boy from 2 had a flashlight and a set of matches. The girl from 4 had a knife, and a gallon of water. I count the number of tributes still alive. There are 10 of us left. I stand up.

"Listen; there are ten of us left. I think it's time we went our separate ways," I say. Chelsea looks upset, but nods. The others do, too. We split the supplies up evenly between us. Celine goes with Carmen. They say that they'll stay together until there are a few tributes left. Then, they'll separate. They leave. I sit there with Chelsea. We don't talk. We just sit there. I don't know why, but this is somehow calming. Then, we heard two earsplitting screams. They came from Celine and Carmen. Even though our alliance was over, we still got up and ran to them. We get there in time to see the careers killing Carmen. Then, they stab Celine in the stomach. The boy from 4 doesn't even pull the knife out before my own hunting knife is in his heart. Chelsea gets the girl from 2 in the head. Three more cannons go off. We would have killed the tributes from one, but they ran away and we were more concerned with Celine.

We kneel down next to her and say "We got them. It'll be all right.

Celine can barely speak. However, she does get out "You guys have to win."

"One of us will," Chelsea promises. Celine shakes her head "Both of you. You can do it."

I feel tears swelling up in my eyes. "We will."

"Goodbye," she says weakly. Her eyes flutter closed and her cannon goes off. "Bye," I whisper.

"We'll miss you," Chelsea manages to get out.

We get up and walk away. I know that if we stay, we may never be able to leave.

We head back to our campsite. We decide to stay there because it's already built.

The anthem sounds. The seal of Panem appears and shows both from 2; both from 4; the boy from 5; Carter and Celine; Carmen; the girl from 10. The seal reappears and then everything goes dark.

"How could so many people have died in one day, Atticus?"

"How could so many people have died because of us? There was District Two and District Four. We killed four people. And, we'll have to kill four more if we want to go home." She lets out a groan. I don't blame her. She killed 2 people and I killed 2 people. How can we get over that?

I tell her to sleep. I take the first watch. I sit there and just stare at the arena. I never really noticed it before. The tall trees with infinite shades of green. The bright colors. There are pinks, reds, oranges, blues, and a million other colors that I can't name. The moon looks different. It's almost gold. There must be a force field that changes the color. I can hear the different sounds coming from the forest. It's like a beautiful symphony. I don't think that there's anything in the world that sounds more beautiful than this. The birds are chirping even though it's night. The animals are all howling and clicking and God only knows what other sounds they're making. Some people would think that it's hard to fall asleep to this, but I know that I could listen to this all night and not care. The peace of the forest is enough for me.

I sit there, gazing up at the moon. I never realized how beautiful the gamemakers make the arenas. I guess that you need to experience it for yourself to be truly grateful.

Sitting here, I feel as if I'm in a time out from the Games. I barely even notice when a silver parachute comes flying down and landing next to me. I turn from this paradise to look at the gift. I know that Victoria must have wanted me to have this. I don't know why. Chelsea's the one that's good with the bow and arrow, not me. But she sent it to me. If they wanted Chelsea to have it, they would have sent it while she was awake. Then it hits me, she wants me to have a usable weapon for long distances. She knows that I can barely kill someone with a knife. So, she sands me another weapon. I decide to get up and practice. I aim for trees. I position the arrow and I let it fly. It hits the tree! Maybe I am good with a bow and arrow. I aim for a few other trees. I hit each one that I aim for. I had no idea that I was good with a bow and arrow. I collect the arrows that I shot and go to sit with Chelsea.

I wake up and see that Chelsea is already up and… using the bow and arrows!

"Where'd you get this?"

"Victoria sent it to me last night."

"You mind if I use it?"

Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I'm actually pretty good with it."

_Boom!_

"Another tribute dead. I bet it's the girl from ten."

"It could be the boy from nine. He's still alive."

We decide to pack up and go to the cornucopia. We figure that it will give us a strategic advantage. Also, the careers might be there. If they are, we can finish them off.

We're walking through the forest when I heard a snapping of twigs to my left. It's too loud to be an animal. I believe that it's footsteps. It sounds like only one person. This is the only other tribute besides us and the careers.

I position an arrow and aim. Suddenly, a girl about 14 jumps out at us. I let the arrow fly and it goes straight through her throat. A cannon fires. We keep going in the direction of the cornucopia. When we reach the bridge that connects the island to the cornucopia, we notice that District 1 is still there.

I aim an arrow and let it fly. However, then I was aiming for moves out of the way and my arrow flies into the water. I see Chelsea charge over the bridge, knives in hand. She begins to throw them. The tributes from 1 are incredibly fast though. They dodge each of her knives. Then, the girl from 1 goes charging at Chelsea with a knife. Chelsea is out of weapons. I throw my hunting knife. I know that it won't kill her but I hope it will distract her. As I knew it would, the girl notices the knife and dodges it. At this point, I start running over the bridge as quickly as I can. I notice the boy from 1 trying to sneak up on Chelsea. He has a spear in hand. I aim and shoot the arrow. He isn't fast enough to dodge it completely, but he does manage to stop it from being lethal. It gets him in the shoulder. I take out my other hunting knife, and begin to fight the boy from 1. He drops his spear and grabs a sword. First, he lunges for my shoulder, but I block him. I twist his blade down so that it touches the ground. Then, I lift my blade up and go in for the kill. He manages to block me, but he drops his sword in the process. I once again try to stab him in the heart. This time, however, he grabs the blade in his hands. I pull the knife away and try again. I realize that it isn't working so I jump back, grab a smaller knife, and try to throw it at him. It gets him in the knee. The blood pouring out of his wound is disgusting. I don't let that slow me down however. I try to slice his neck but he blocks it with his arm. This causes his hand to get chopped off. Now the blood flow is sickening. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop myself from vomiting. The only good thing to come from this is that he can't stand anymore. One final time, I go in for the kill. This time, I cut him at the neck and his head goes flying off. The cannon signaling his death fires.

I turn to see that Chelsea and the girl from 1 are still fighting. Chelsea managed to get her hands on a mace. She swings it around her head and just misses the other girl. I run to go help her but she yell "**Get back, she's mine!**" She drops the mace and quickly replaces it with a broadsword. She swings the sword around her and slashes the sound of metal on metal hurts my ears. She manages to twist the sword out of the other girl's hand. Then, she throws the sword at the girl and it buries itself in the girl's chest. The cannon that signifies the girl from 1's death fires. I run over to Chelsea. I hug her as the trumpets that announce our victory sound. Then, I hear Claudius Templesmith announce "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the victors of the 91st Hunger Games, Atticus Avalor and Chelsea Mellark!"

Two ladders drop down and we each grab one. I'm still holding her hand as we get into the hovercraft. The doctors tell us that we're both in perfect health and that they'll take us to the Training Center. Throughout the entire time, I never let go of Chelsea's hand.


	15. Chapter 15

I sit at the Dining Room table. Chelsea is still asleep. I haven't seen Victoria yet. She's with Haymich. They've got to set up a dinner for all of our sponsors. Katniss seems to be trying to get along with me. Peeta can try and succeed one hundred times better at it than Katniss.

Today is the recap of the Games. Me and Chelsea will have to sit through 3 hours of the games. I don't know about Chelsea, but I already went through it once. I don't want to go through it again.

When Chelsea comes in, I get up and kiss her on the cheek. We sit down and have breakfast. Then, Titus comes in to tell us that we need to get ready for the recap. When he says this, Chelsea groans so I know that I'm not the only one who disagrees with watching the games over. We each have to go to our own rooms for prep. I tell her I'll see her later and go to my room.

I wait below the stage. I know how the recap will work. First, they'll introduce our support staff. That means the prep teams, Effie, Cinna and Portia, and Haymich and Victoria. Then, after the support staff is introduced, they will introduce the victor. After that, President Snow will bring out the double crown. He will place half of it on my head and half of it on Chelsea's.

Then, we will go upstairs for the interview. Once again, Caesar will ask us questions about the Games and about what we plan to do with the rest of our lives. After that, we'll finally be able to go home to District 12.

I hear the anthem booming. I know that now we just need to live through this and then we'll get to go home. I hear them announce the prep teams. I can imagine Dala, Quartensia, and Viranda bouncing around on the stage. The thought of it makes me laugh. Then, the announce Effie. She gets a huge round of applause because of all of the victors from District 12 that were crowned while she was our escort. They announce Cinna and Portia. They get the largest amount of applause yet because they're so famous for their designs. Haymich and Victoria are up just before us and they get a huge round of applause for bringing us home. Finally, the plate that I'm standing on rises off of the ground. When they announce me and Chelsea, the roar of the crowd is deafening. We walk over to our seat. It's a plush red velvet loveseat that the victors sit in while we watch the recap of the Games. When the lights go down, the screen turns on and the film begins. It starts out with the reaping. Then, it goes to the chariot rides. After that, the training scores are showed. They also show the interviews. Finally, they get to the actual Games. They show the bloodbath in detail. Then they show all of the other kills. They show our alliance with the others. Then, they show the final fight in detail.

When that's over, the lights come back on and the anthem plays again. President Snow comes out, followed by a boy in a white suit holding a crown. President Snow takes the crown and gives it a twist. It then breaks in two. He puts one half on my head and the other half on Chelsea's head.

When the president leaves, the two of us go upstairs to prepare for the interview. Caesar Flickerman is upstairs waiting for us. "Hello Atticus, Chelsea."

We both say hello and take our seats in the Living Room across from him. The camera man counts back from 5. When he says that we're on, Caesar says "Hello Panem! I'm Caesar Flickerman with our two newest victors, Atticus Avalor and Chelsea Mellark!"

"So Atticus, in the arena, you had quite a few close calls. What was the scariest part of the arena?"

"Well, it was all pretty scary," someone _help_ me!

"I think it was when we were in the final fight with the tributes from one." Thank you Chelsea.

"Yeah, it's the same for me I guess. I was absolutely terrified the entire time. But that was the scariest part for me."

"What do you think will be the hardest thing about the Games from now on?" Caesar asks.

"Remembering all the friends that we lost will definitely be the hardest. I liked a lot of them. I don't know how I'll deal with their deaths," Chelsea says. I nod in agreement.

"What do you want to say to other tributes from future Games?"

"I want future tributes to know that every victor faces hardships because of the Games. It's what you learn from those hardships that determines who you are. Take victors like Haymich, or Chaff, or Tara and Micah, they won their Games and turned to substances like morphling and alcohol for an escape. They didn't learn to deal with their problems. However, there are victors like Seeder, Cecelia, Victoria, Laurent, Titus, Katniss, and Peeta, the hardships that they faced in their Games made them stronger. It made them who they are. I'm going to talk to all of those victors that refuse to live in Victors' Village, refuse to mentor, and refuse to be considered a victor, you can stay the way you are, isolated from the Games and your past, or you can take what you've been through and learn from it. That's the test of a true champion."

I get off of the train and notice that there's no one there to welcome me. Well, there are all of the paparazzi but I don't see my family. Chelsea and I get in the car that'll take us to Victors' Village. When we get there, I notice that there are 7 houses that look as if they're lived in. My guess is that one of them is mine. I think that my parents are in there getting the place ready for us all to live in.

I get out of the car and walk over to the house that was never used before. Chelsea tells me which house was empty when she left. I open the door to find that my parents are moved in already. My mother sees me and comes running over. She hugs me. Then, she lets go and says "Thank you Atti! You convinced me not to ignore my past." I share a confused look with Chelsea. We look back at my mother and she says "You are now in the house of the victor of the 75th Hunger Games, Anne Silvermist."

My eyes widen as I grasp what she's saying. "You were a victor. I never knew. Your name wasn't said when they state all of the past victors of District Twelve."

"Sweetie, I paid them off so that they wouldn't say my name with the other victors. I also got the Capitol to not show my Games on television. I wanted to forget that the Games ever happened. I was even too afraid to mentor you. So, I was going to ask my mentor Katniss to mentor you. But, then I realized that her daughter was in there as well. When you won the Games I was ecstatic. However, what you said in your interview finally convinced me to accept that I won. You see, in my games, all siblings of the reaped child would have to go in with them. My two older sisters and my younger brother all went in with me. They died in the arena. I never wanted to deal with the Games again."

"I understand. I'll forgive you if you understand that I'll be moving into my own house next door." She was speechless. She only nodded.

I walked next door with Chelsea. "Who would have thought that we both had at least one parent whose a victor?" I shrugged. I'm a little angry that she wouldn't tell me that she was a victor. I'm also angry that she didn't want to mentor me.

"I don't care, why don't we go down to the Justice Building. We can sign those papers and get married." I suggest.

She nods and we run down the street to the Justice Building.


	16. Author's Note

**I will be writing a sequel to 91****st**** Hunger Games. It will be posted shortly. Check my stories to see when I publish it.**


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